Binnington stops 30, Blues blank Lightning for 3rd win in row

ST. LOUIS -- Jordan Binnington made 30 saves for the St. Louis Blues in their third straight win, 5-0 against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Enterprise Center on Tuesday.

It was Binnington’s first shutout of the season, and 13th in the NHL.

"It's a team that you're proud to be a part of," Binnington said. "It's a month or two of working hard and buying in. It's nice to see some results come our way. We're just staying patient and playing together and trusting the system, and we're getting rewarded."

Jordan Kyrou scored twice, and Torey Krug and Pavel Buchnevich each had two assists for the Blues (8-5-1), who have won five of six.

"We're building some confidence," Krug said. "I think we're trusting our d-zone and a lot of times when you take care of things in the d-zone, it leads to offense, and that's what you're seeing. Guys are committed to playing a full 200 feet."

Jonas Johansson made 24 saves for the Lightning (6-6-4), who were shut out for the second straight game, and have lost three in a row.

"People are going to look and say we've been shut out the last couple of games," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "The problem is, it's not our offense. We're giving up gifts, and we're having good stretches in the game. That's been the story this year. It's just giving up those easy ones. Guys are getting discouraged and then they're fighting it a bit, so that kind of hurts the mojo of your team.”

Colton Parayko gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead at 11:09 on the rush, scoring from the bottom of the left face-off circle. Robert Thomas had an assist to extend his point streak to seven games (five goals, six assists).

The Blues scored twice in 19 seconds late in the second period to extend it to 3-0.

Kyrou made it 2-0 at 16:17, streaking in off the right on a breakaway off a pass from Krug before lifting a backhand past Johansson.

"It's just a chemistry play with 'Rouzy,'" Krug said. "We've talked over the years. If he sees that I get the puck in transition, he can take off and I'll try to get it to him. Obviously, he saw open ice and he made a great move on the breakaway."

Jakub Vrana pushed it to 3-0 at 16:36 with a wrist shot from the right circle off a cross-ice pass from Krug.

"To be honest with you, I'm trying to find these areas," Vrana said. "Sometimes you're going to read it, you're going to go to the net at times, stay there, because that's where the goals are. If you find areas like where you see your teammate can make that play.

“I knew it, he saw me. I was ready for it; it was a great pass. He had his head up all the time. I just looked for that area to find the spot to be there for that pass."

Kasperi Kapanen made it 4-0 with an empty-net goal at 16:02 of the third period, and Kyrou scored again at 19:18 for the 5-0 final.

"We had a good start and then we started giving up chances," Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman said. "The second period was an even period, and then we gave up two in less than a minute, so, just breakdowns. It wasn't like we were dominated. I think it was an even match. We just gave up way too much."

NOTES: Binnington is 4-1-0 with a 1.58 goals-against average and .951 save percentage in five home games this season. ... Blues captain Brayden Schenn had an assist, and is one point away from 600 in the NHL. ... Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak missed the game with an upper-body injury and is day to day. ... Tampa Bay forward Nikita Kucherov had four shots on goal in 20:46 of ice time after returning from a one-game absence due to illness.